Venturing north on the U6 train, heading towards the Allianz Arena the scenery outside was, how you say, of a wintry nature.
The snow lying on the ground was approximately five inches in depth as the train continued its journey north taking us ever nearer to the scene of our greatest ever triumph, alighting from the train it was noticeable that out in the open spaces that surrounded Frottmaning station it felt a lot colder than back in the city centre.
Before venturing north we`d been informed that the walk from the station to the Allianz Arena entrance was a mere eight minutes. Having done the walk in a rather brisk fashion, we could only assume that was eight minutes at the walking speed of Sebastien Coe or Arjen Robben in full flight.
Nevertheless, with the wind factor making it seem very chilly, we were soon yards from the stadium. The façade viewed from the distance looked superb, close up it was equally as impressive, its curvature bearing witness to a remarkable feat of engineering.
As seems to be the case in Munich, you cannot fail to be impressed by the sign-posting which guides you, in several languages, to where you want to be and the sign-posting at the Allianz Arena was no different.
Following the signs, we were soon climbing a staircase (or two) heading towards the box-office. Prior to setting out we`d already discovered that there was an English guided tour at 13:00 hours, we had about twenty minutes to spare.
Purchasing our ?10 tour tickets, we were told to wait through a large door in what was known as a bier garden. Opening the doors the reference area was our equivalent of one of the bars at Stamford Bridge but on a much grander scale. The shelves were packed with steins, obviously well used on match days.
Looking around, the area, not surprisingly, had a red ambience to it and there were a mixture of nationalities milling around, waiting to be collected by our guides. As the minutes ticked away, I couldn`t help but recall that magical night of 19th May and how this ground would have been packed to the rafters with excited supporters hoping, nay expecting their team to win.
With typical German efficiency our guide arrived minutes before the scheduled starting time and beckoned us over. Introducing himself as Bernhard, he told us the tour would last about an hour and beckoned us to follow him. The wife and I were now seconds away from entering the arena where history was made.
Climbing yet more stairs we were now on the concourse at the rear of the middle tier, behind the very goal the Chelsea supporters had sat on that monumental night. Beckoning us forward, we were asked to sit in the seats directly behind the goal where Drogba had scored that magnificent equalizer with minutes to go.
Bernhard started to tell us about the stadium but my mind was in the past, nine months in the past to be exact, recalling the events of that night, the Bayern goal, Dogba`s equalizer, Robben`s missed penalty and that penalty shoot-out before the team lifted that famous trophy we`d chased for so many years.
But what, in the following sixty minutes, did I learn about the Allianz Arena and what sights did I get to see?
Join me for my Munich blog Part Four tomorrow.
(And yes, once the blog has finished, there will be a pictorial blog to follow!)
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